Italy: Battle at the Bank

Political meddling in business is as
commonplace in Italy as pasta on the dinner table. The late Enrico
Mattei, for instance, operated E.N.I., the giant government petroleum
complex, almost as a financial arm of the Christian Democratic Party.
A major exception to the rule has been Rome's Banca Nazionale del
Lavoro, which for 53 years has kept out of politics even though the
Treasury Ministry is its majority stockholder.

So adamant was longtime Director-General Imbriani Longo, now 72, about
the proposition that politics and bank ing do not mix that he even
declined government honors and decorations.